The 11 skippers leading crews at ACWS San Francisco this week were introduced to the public at a ceremony on the main stage of the ACWS Race Village at Marina Green.

On Tuesday afternoon the fleet took to San Francisco Bay for a practice session in winds between 17 and 20 knots. The action was exhilarating for JR Hildebrand, 24, a San Francisco native and IndyCar driver who spent the day as guest racer with ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL.

"It was awesome. It's such a cool thing to be a part of," said Hildebrand, the 2011 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. "You don't have to be going 200 mph to feel like you're hauling ass. It was very cool. It's a like-relationship, racing cars and racing boats. Everything's very sensitive. How these guys work together to get right up against the other boats is really impressive. It gives me a lot of appreciation for what these guys do."

In other practice action, Emirates Team New Zealand and China Team each capsized. Five crews now have capsized since practice began. Here's what the skippers had to say at this morning's media briefing:

Ben Ainslie, J.P. Morgan BAR On managing the AC45 on the racecourse: "It's going to be exciting. It'll be slightly chaotic on the start line in 20 knots with 11 boats; I'm sure we're going to see an amazing spectacle. I'm going to have to back off because the big thing is to avoid any damage."

Russell Coutts, ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS On the predicted flood tide changing tactics: "Wind shifts will still be important upwind and downwind. Judging the approach to marks is going to be challenging as well. If you get that wrong and have to do extra tacks or jibes it'll be expensive, but I'm looking forward to it."

Yann Guichard, Energy Team On being back on the helm after coaching: "After a good training session last week I'm very pleased to be back and quite confident, but there are 11 boats on the start line so the risk management is essential because a capsize can happen suddenly."

Terry Hutchinson, Artemis Racing White On what's new on board since ACWS Newport: "We have the same crew as the previous regatta in Newport. We have a new J3, the heavy-air jib; no surprise there. We've been developing some Code 0s and trying to figure out which one to use."

John Kostecki, ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL On what he's looking forward to this week: "I'm looking forward to showcasing the America's Cup World Series to people here in the Bay area. I think it'll be pretty cool going to Marina Green and watching the racing. It's a unique racecourse because we'll be racing parallel to the shoreline."

Santiago Lange, Artemis Racing Red On racing the AC45 compared to the Tornado catamaran: "From the point of view of stability or digging the bow, I think the AC45 is safer than a Tornado. But it's a lot harder because there are five people on board and it's very physical for the crew."

Nathan Outteridge, Team Korea On the expected crowded starting line: "When you have a lot of boats near you and you can't steer where you want to steer, that's when it gets nerve-wracking. If you steer to the wrong position you capsize, and if there's a boat in your way there are going to be capsizes."

Phil Robertson, China Team On returning to the ACWS: "We're extremely happy to be back racing the ACWS. There couldn't be a better place to be sailing than San Francisco Bay. The wind is fantastic and the boats are extremely exciting to sail in that much pressure; they're a handful."

Max Sirena, Luna Rossa Swordfish On the strong winds expected this week: "We've never sailed so much in such strong wind. The only day was one in Naples when we had 25-30 knots. It's going to be tough because the AC45 is a really powerful boat and with the wing you can't depower it that much."

Jimmy Spithill, ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL On racing in front of the home crowd: "It's huge. We had the final event of the last AC World Series in Newport, and one of the key things to winning was the fan support. It was overwhelming. I really want to see everyone coming down here and getting into it."

Racing continues Thursday with two pairs of the match racing quarterfinals and the first two fleet races. View the racing lineup at ACWS San Francisco Regatta Format and additional event information at the ACWS San Francisco event page.

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race celebrated rounding the venerated landmark of Cape Horn on Monday, a pleasure cruelly denied Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) after the Chinese boat's mast was broken early in a dramatic day on Leg 5.

The wind played dirty tricks all day in Palma on the sailors and race committees who had to juggle with big shifts and different pressure. From 4 to 20 knots, and reaching 40 in some gusts, the wind turned around the bay playing with everybody's nerves.

Ghosting across the line in the inky blackness of a Mediterranean spring night, finally slicing through the finish line set on the very waters where some 40 odd years ago he cut his teeth as a young, aspiring sailor harbouring great dreams, at 01:47:00hrs local time Guillermo Altadill and his talented, ever reliable Chilean co-skipper Jose Muñoz secured second placed in this third edition of the Barcelona World Race, the round the world race for two crew which left the Catalan capital on December 31st 2014.

Algoa Bay brought lighter conditions on Sunday, and after a postponement waiting for the wind to settle, the race got underway in 7 knots of breeze from the south-east. Ted Conrads and Brian Haines from the USA were the pathfinders, and opened up the gate for the fleet as they sailed out to the right-hand side of the course.